In the Bundesliga they are battling together for points with Bayer 04 but they will be on opposite sides in the Africa Cup: Edmond Tapsoba and Odilon Kossounou. The Leverkusen defensive duo head home before New Year to prepare for the continental tournament with their respective national teams.
Tapsoba with Burkina Faso in Group A face Ethiopia, Cape Verde plus Cameroon. The last country is the host and also the first opponent for Tapsoba and Co. The game on Sunday, 9 January (kick-off: 18.00 CET), is also the opening match of the tournament.
Kossounou with the Ivory Coast in Group E will play Algeria, Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone. The Ivorians start against Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday, 12 January (kick-off: 21.00 CET). The Ivory Coast squad is provisional and will be finally confirmed on Christmas Eve. Kossounou is very likely to be included as the Werkself player has been in the Ivory Coast team for five of the last six qualifiers.
The time away from the club starts on 27 December. A total of 24 teams will compete from 9 January for a place in the final that will be played on 6 February (kick-off: 21.00 CET) in the Cameroon capital Yaoundé.
UEFA held the draw for the play-offs in the Europa League in Nyon today. Bayer 04 were not in the draw as the group winners progressed straight to the Round of 16. The Werkself finished top of Group G with 13 points from six games.
16 teams take part in the second round including the eight third-placed teams from the group stage of the Champions League plus the eight group runners-up in the Europa League. The first legs will be played on 17 February with the second legs on 24 February 2022.
The Werkself can play 14 of 16 clubs in the Round of 16 as teams from the same country cannot play each other at that stage of the competition. Real Betis, group opponents of the Gerardo Seoane team, play Russian league leaders Zenit St. Petersburg.
Europa League play-off matches::
Sevilla vs Dinamo Zagreb
Atalanta vs Olympiakos
RB Leipzig vs Real Sociedad
Barcelona vs Napoli
Real Betis vs Zenit St. Petersburg
Borussia Dortmund vs Rangers
FC Porto vs Lazio
A change of coaches at the last Europa League opponents for the Werkself: Ferencvaros, who won 1-0 against Bayer 04 last Thursday, parted company with head coach Peter Stöger on Monday. Ferencvaros suffered a surprise 2-0 defeat at Debreceni VSC yesterday and lost top spot in the OTP Bank Liga.
The 55-year-old Austrian only took charge of the Hungarian champions in the summer. In Germany, Stöger coached FC Köln and Borussia Dortmund.
Bayer 04 congratulate Michal Kadlec on his 37th birthday today (Monday). The former Werkself player joined on loan from Sparta Prague in 2008 and signed permanently in the following season. The defender made 158 appearances for the Werkself and scored 14 goals in those games. The left-footer reached the DFB Cup final with Black and Reds in 2009 and was a runner-up in the league two years later.
The Czech Republic full-back moved on to Turkish top-flight club Fenerbahce in 2013/14. Kadlec has been at Czech first division club FC Slovacko since 2018. Many happy returns.
Bayer 04 and main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer have shown great commitment to the community as the sale of custom-designed T-shirts for charity in the Fanwelt as part of the “BarmeniaGothaer Brings Joy campaign raised a good €5,000. Bayer 04 matched this sum with an equal contribution. As a result, a total of €10,000 was presented to Edmond Tapsoba for his foundation ahead of the home match against Hamburg. The foundation supports people facing challenging daily circumstances in his home country of Burkina Faso.
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Bayer 04 host Hamburg at the BayArena for the first time since September 2017 on the final day of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season on Saturday (15:30 CEST). HSV are safe in their first campaign back in the top flight after back-to-back wins, but Leverkusen are unbeaten in their last 19 games against promoted teams as they go for the victory they need to have a chance to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. There’s also heavy discounts on food and drinks at the BayArena. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the Matchday 34 fixture in our matchday news.
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As well as previously confirmed departures, Bayer 04 Women will also say goodbye to Vanessa Haim and Shen Menglu before Sunday’s final game of the season at home to Werder Bremen as the pair leave Leverkusen upon the expiration of their contracts.
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The last competitive match of the 2025/26 season takes place at the BayArena on Saturday 16 May (kick-off 15:30 CEST), where Hamburger SV are the visitors. At the pre-match press conference, head coach Kasper Hjulmand discussed the mindset and the approach for the crucial final game against HSV, among other topics.
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